On My Own

My view the second I walk out of my apartment.
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I've been asked what I've been doing all summer.  I've been asked what a typical day is like.  The truth is, I don't really know. No day is quite the same, because there's no routine, no plans, no structure whatsoever. In a way, I've been busy doing nothing.

It's called vacation.  Living a block away from the Mediterranean has made vacation very simple, since the beach is my backyard.  The beach has been my only 'commitment' of any sort; I try to go every day, even if it's just for a half hour or so.  I leave happy and relaxed, even if I come in a bad mood.

There are some general highlights from my stay here. Among them:

1.  Food. (You thought my inner fat kid would stay surpressed forever?)  I can't get enough of the food here. Everything is amazing because everything is fresh. The salads? Extraordinary.  Fruit juice?  Awesome.  And of course, who can forget the falafel.  One of the best falafel stands in Tel Aviv is a two-block walk from my apartment.  I go there almost every day because it is cheap and delicious.  The miracle?  I am not yet sick of it.  Another miracle?  My eating habits will not require a membership to Weight Watchers when I go back home.  Fantastic.

2. Spontenaity.  In Cape Town, I realized how important it is to get off a schedule and allow yourself to do random things at a moments notice.  Want to go to the movies?  Sure.  A bar?  Ok.  Whatever.  My life here has been defined by freedom and spontenaity.  Like I say, I never have plans; usually someone will call saying they're going here, they're doing this, they're planning something crazy; then they ask if I want to join and I say yes.  'No' has not been a word in my vocabulary...unless it is used to fend off sketchy Israelis who decide it is ok to sit down to me at the beach and start kissing my hand or arm or whatever.  Then "no" is usually paired with I HAVE A BOYFRIEND (Iies) or GO AWAY (truth).

3. My Israeli (non)-family.  First there's Erez, Nesya, and their children, Noam, Edo, and Nevo.  They lived in San Diego for three years, moved back to Israel, and took Laura in as part of their family when she lived here.  Now they have done the same for me.  I see them about every other weekend but feel like I've known them my entire life.  They are my concerned parents and older siblings and crazy cousins all wrapped into one.

About a month ago I spent shabbat weekend with Erez's family.  Itching to exercise, I spent an evening running around their moshav (kibbutz) - picture a perfect suburban setting, with model homes, a park in the middle of the community...the whole thing.  Could've been the US, with one notable exeption: in almost every home I saw grandma, grandpa, mom and dad, kids running around, their cousins, aunts and uncles...the whole family.  It's a typical weekend dinner in Israel.  Everyone is there.  It's like having thanksgiving day every weekend.  I'm not sure Israelis realize how fortunate they are to have that unceasing sense of community and love.

And then there's the broader Israeli family: people simply watching out for one another.  One of my favorite moments this summer occurred at Yotvata, a restaurant on the beach.  I sat alone, and after three minutes a father comes up to me and asks "Are you from California?  My friend here thinks you're from California."  "Yes...how did you know?"  And before I knew it, I was sitting at their table discussing how his family moved to Northern California about six years ago and grew to understand the California look; how they spend their summers visiting family and friends in Tel Aviv.  It turned into a two-hour lunch...and a typical case of Israelis taking a perfect stranger and turning them into a member of the family.

4. Random stuff.  Like taking a couple days out of my life to write this blog.  Deciding to sit down and watch four hours of grey's anatomy at a time (for the record, no, I have not turned into a crazed Grey's fan, thank you very much).  Reading the last Harry Potter for twelve hours straight.  Staring.  Staring is a big one in my life: at the beach, on the streets, at the scenes around me.  Observing might be more appropriate, but for those of you who've seen Israel, you know that staring is hard to resist at times...(Who told you that shirt or that hair dye would be aesthetically pleasing?).  Sleeping in - that's also a big one.  Never setting an alarm.  It's liberating.

One day as I was running along the boardwalk of the beach, I started thinking about all those annoying questions people ask you at interviews - most gracious thing you've done; favorite class you ever took; if you had five minutes with the president, what would you talk about.  Then I thought of the most common question: three words to describe yourself.  Without thinking, the first word that popped into mind was 'fortunate.'

If this summer has taught me anything, it has taught me how rare and amazing this opportunity has been.  How fortunate I am to have a family who not only supports me financially, but morally, while I make this college-real world transition.  How fortunate to spend my summer care-free, worry-free; to spend a summer making up for lost time, discovering the big wide world full of play-time and fun.  Life can't be a beach forever.  But I'll take it when it comes.